Continuous transepidermal drug collection: basis for use in assessing drug intake and pharmacokinetics.

Continuous transepidermal drug collection (CTDC) has been proposed for use in assessing ethanol intake and in monitoring compliance with therapeutic regimens. Exploration of a theoretical basis for use of CTDC in these circumstances and for its use in assessing other aspects of drug disposition kinetics was undertaken. Effects of single and multicompartmental drug disposition models, single dose and multiple dose regimens, with regular and irregular doses and dosing intervals, and zero-order, first-order, and Michaelis-Menten excretion patterns were explored. First-order transepidermal drug transfer was assumed with and without back transfer from the collection device. These analyses suggest that the utility of CTDC is severely restricted when back transfer from the collection device is substantial. With back transfer minimized, CTDC may be a useful tool for assessing amount of drug exposure, compliance with therapeutic regimens, and relative bioavailability, but offers little advantage over discrete sampling of other body fluids in the study of other aspects of drug disposition kinetics.